There are more jobs on offer everywhere - except in the border counties
Although job vacancies are increasing, Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan are all experiencing declines.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN the border counties are in decline at a time when the country is experiencing an overall boost in vacancies.
That is according to the latest quarterly report by IrishJobs.ie, which suggests that Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan currently have the lowest job-vacancy rates in the country.
From April to June of this year, vacancies listed on the website for Cavan dropped by more than a quarter compared to the same three-month period in 2017, while vacancies in Leitrim declined by 17%.
Overall, job vacancies in Ireland grew by 7% year-on-year during the same period. Job vacancy growth came primarily from urban areas, with Dublin registering a 6% increase, while vacancies were up by a quarter in Cork and Meath and by one-third in Limerick and Kerry.
Commenting on the new report, IrishJobs.ie general manager Orla Moran said that Ireland’s border region has “always been economically peripheral relative to the rest of the country”.
“However, we have recorded a continued downward trend in many of the counties, particularly Cavan and Leitrim. This is a direct result of a continued lack of investment.”
She suggested that the government should make it easier for companies to do business in these counties by incentivising entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure such as high-speed broadband, as well as road and rail links.
Growth sectors
Overall job availability in Ireland remains high at the moment, according to the report.
Hotel and catering jobs dominated vacancies in the most recent quarter, representing 27% of all job vacancies. The report noted that even though work in this sector “typically peaks in the run-up to the summer months”, vacancies were up by 11% compared to the same period last year.
Elsewhere, the accountancy and finance sector “mounted a recovery”, with job vacancies increasing by 7% during the quarter following a decline last year.
Looking ahead, however, Moran warned that “job creation could stagnate” in some sectors due to the continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
